Blaze and Silver
by Madhog thy Master
Summary: Love is a burning thing... Vengeance is consuming... Sorrow comes from Love... Hate comes from Sorrow... And for these cursed souls... A burning end shall attend. 3rd episode of the "Tails" Saga, read the other 2 and the spin-off before this one.
1. Chapter 1

Love burns…

Hate kills…

Pain keeps alive…

… Must… Recollect… My thoughts.

… Must… Wright… Urgh!

He's power… Is great… I managed to escape it… But for how long?

I've got to keep going until I can… This is still my story!

You have not won yet!

DO YOU HEAR ME, NAUGUS!!! I'M STILL HERE!

ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

**SILVER AND BLAZE**

* * *

**1.**

**2 years ago.**

They were still clearly visible in his eyes… The destruction… The deaths…

The Flames.

Of the night in which the City of Water became the City of Fire… Hell on Earth… Of the night in which his world was reduced to ashes by the Flames' fury… Of that night, he saw everything.

People screaming… People dyeing… Males, females, children alike… Burnt into their demise…

Was that their punishment?

Was that their fate? To die by the hands of a deceiving God? To feel it's wrath?

A God… No… Not a God…

A demon! A Devil's spawn!

He knew it. He knew the responsible for this… For all of this.

The Demon of Flames. The Blaze of Destruction. The Monster Cat…

The Bakeneko!

The one he once loved… The one he once had a link with…

And now… The one that took everything from him…

No… As a matter of fact, there was still one thing he hold…

Revenge!

Revenge for his people. Revenge for his comrades. Most of all… Revenge for himself.

And so he made a promise… He swore to avenge the victims of the Flames, he swore to redeem himself from his mistakes, he swore to kill the demon that caused all this destruction… He cried his vote, yelled it to the smoking winds of his city's ashes… He will destroy the Bakeneko… He will destroy Her!

"Mark my words…One day… I will kill you… Blaze the Cat!"

* * *

**Present time.**

They say that the Flame is the symbol of Life, that all Creation comes from it. This world was modeled by fire, sapient beings evolved thanks to the discovery of fire, entire civilities were born from it…

Everything came from the Flames… And Everything will return to them… And burn… Until nothing remains.

There are legends… Old believes… About a creature who's very birth would bring sorrow and despair upon the livings, a cursed being who's very life has been encased with flaming fury… And who's only purpose is to burn everything in existence…

Ancient tribes used to call this creature… The Bakeneko.

It has been said that when a Bakeneko will unleash it's wrath… The world will come to an end… And return to the Flames it was born from.

"Fascinating…" Commented a squirrel woman while closing her book of ancient legends and myths.

This Mobian girl used to be an important and influential person in her country's politics… That until she voluntarily chose to walk out from her status and live the simple housewife life... With her son.

Sally Acorn sighed.

Even if she considered herself to be Tails's mother, she knew, deep down, that she would have never been able to substitute his true parents… His real mother. She knew all too well and it bothered her, it made her think to be worthless… To not be enough for the kid… The boy… The young warrior.

Her would be son… The one who saved her life a little more than 4 years ago.

Suddenly, her thoughts diverted to other important matters… Sally's head turned itself toward the large calendar in her kitchen, specifically to the day signed in red…

"Only two weeks before his birthday…" The chipmunk muttered under her breath.

She understood the utter importance of that recurrence for the kit… Since it was going to be his first ever birthday… Without the people who caused his birth…

Sally was even more depressed now… A series of questions crossed her mind like a train.

Will I be able to cheer Tails up? Will I be able to make him laugh and have fun? Will he ever call me mother?

The last question, as the squirrel realized, was out of place but it was what troubled her the most. Even after been officially adopted by the former princess, Tails would not call her mum… Not after that day, at least… The day in which she had to consol the hurt kid, more than a month ago.

She sighed again.

Finally, she decided to put this egotistical thoughts away and concentrate to what she believed was the main problem…

How to make his birthday party unforgettable?

Her internal questioning was abruptly interrupted by a knocking sound from the wood door of her modest self made hut.

"I wonder who would that be?" She asked the overused line to herself.

The answer came when she opened the door… And saw him.

"Sally…"

"OH MY CHAOS, TAILS!!!"

And the wounded and bleeding body of the Kitsune collapsed in her arms.

* * *

She could feel the pain… That was a good sign, otherwise it would have been a problem… If the cuts wouldn't sting, if their painful presence wouldn't have reached her brain… Than her soul would have fell victim to the sheer numbness of grief… And for that, there are not simple cures.

It's been a few days since her, let's say, "attempted escape"… Through self bloody murder.

Her name was Blaze, she was a lavender furred female cat dressed in a deep purple vest, a shadow of her former royal glory that, for some reason, she couldn't throw away from her life…

A casual observer would say that she was a masochist… Or even worse, an emo… But the sad truth was that she was a mass murderer… That caused the demise of her own people… And all of because of her powers… The unwanted powers she was born with… The blazing powers that consumed her soul along with the people who stayed anywhere near her.

She was a monster… She considered herself a monster. She feared her own emotions because she knew that the Flames would feed up from them and take control of her body.

Rage and Distress, Love and Hate were forbidden for her… That until, she met her savior.

Her friend, no, her own sister. The only one who has ever understood her. The one who healed her wounded soul…

A young, plant like girl named Cosmo.

They were so similar. Both were prisoners of their own gifts / curses. Both suffered losses. Both experienced solitude and angst.

It was thanks to her unique ability that Blaze was finally able to overcome the burning flames inside her being and successfully control them… And than, she had to die.

Why? Why her of all people? Why did she had to sacrifice herself to save us all? It wasn't fair! It wasn't damn fair!

Life was unfair. The cat recognized that. She had to… as depressing as it could seem.

And so, there she was… In her bedroom, inside the Freedom Fighters' local HQ, with her wrists stitched and bandaged… And NOT alone.

She was staring at her un-required watcher from the softness of her bed… A cat like stare.

Creepy!

Her guest didn't flinch a bit from the menacing glare and smirked.

"You can stare at me all you want… It won't do a FUCKING difference!" You guess it right, it's Knuckles.

After her extreme gesture, she wasn't allowed to do anything (including sleeping and even going into the lady's room) without someone looking for her… All of her pleads and promises of not to do it again, turned out to be pointless.

She was a prisoner… And she felt rather discomforted with it.

"You know that I hate you, right?" She coldly said.

"I'll survive that." The red smirking echidna replied.

She muttered something incoherently within herself before rolling her eyes and changing the topic.

"So… Sonic is a robot, uh?"

Knuckles's expression frowned. He knew by now, the truth about that blue hedgehog, after his talk with Sir Charles, a few hours earlier…

* * *

**"_That hedgehog…" He replied, still unconvinced, not to mention, utterly shocked!_**

**"_He's been robotizied by Eggman no more than two years ago… I know it for sure since I was already working undercover at the time…" Charles confirmed._**

**"_And you didn't tell us… In all these years!?"_**

**"_He… He escaped from the doctor's control… I thought he was dead… I… I…"_**

**"_BULLSHIT!!! TELL THE FRIGGIN' TRUTH, FOR ONCE!!!"_**

_**The mechanical hedgehog took an imaginary deep breath.**_

**"_I was afraid, ok? I-I thought he had became like all the others… A mindless slave… And I was afraid that… If I'd ever heard of him again, I would have deluded myself into think the he could have been saved and…"_**

**"_Well… He's not like that."_**

_**And now Chuck looked genuinely surprised… For a robotic face, of course.**_

**"_What do you mean?"_**

**"_He's like you, Chuck… He has a mind and will of his own… I saw it… When we met."_**

**"_WHEN YOU WHAAAAAT!!!?" A metallic voice that yell is not amusing to hear._**

_**And the echidna spitted out the entire story… How the F.F. met with Sonic and how he contributed to rescue that rabbit kid…**_

_**The bewilderment in uncle Chuck's reaction was compared only to his over reactive joy.**_

_**Again, a screaming robotic voice… Quite annoying.**_

**"_Alright, I get it, you're happy and all… NOW, SHUT THE HELL UP!!!" _**

* * *

Knuckles was a person with many defects… No, scratch that. He had WAY much defects… But there's one thing he wasn't… A racist. He didn't give a damn about a guy's skin color or, in this case, consistence… Sure, the hedgehog may had been a robot (and therefore, he lied to them) but he wasn't a bad guy… He was an obnoxious, retarded, fucked up, would be lady-killer, douchebag… But not a bad guy, not at all.

As a matter of fact, the red echidna had some kind of respect toward the dude, of course he would never admit it even under deadly circumstances, but he was a valuable fighter with a sense of priority… Metal skinned or not, he could become a great Freedom Fighter.

There were a few problems, though:

1) How will the others, especially Tails, react?

2) How will the hedgehog react when the others will know the truth?

3) Who was that mysterious Sniper guy? Was he working for Eggman?

4) Where the fuck did Tails and Sonic go!?

All of these questions, particularly the latter, where bothering him greatly.

Blaze was still glancing him, with curiosity this time.

_**I wonder what is he thinking? Does he think at all? Ehe! What a weirdo!**_

And that, she realized something really important. It didn't matter if she was a flaming monster of death… If she was different and all… They, the Freedom Fighters, the people she grew accustomed with, would always accept her… And that's because, basically, they were all weirdoes… They were all unique!

Espio was a sociopath… But also a valuable and reliable fighter.

Amy Rose was a deranged lunatic… But she was also the sweetest gal around.

Knuckles was a short tempered, hyper cursing, violent brute… And also a great leader.

And Tails was the ONLY flying two-tailed fox in the world! Not to mention a tremendous geek when it comes to airplanes and mechanical stuff…

All of them, just like her, had their own tragedies… Their own losses… Their own grieves. More importantly, they were all there for her… Because they cared.

The feline gave one more look at her damaged wrists, understanding the great foolishness and egotism behind her coward gesture…

She felt sick with herself.

Tails has been able to got through all of his misfortunes and he was just 8… What did she do, instead? She tried to kill herself… She tried to take the easy way! What was worst, she made her friends… Her only family… Scared to death!

She was now looking at her red companion with watery eyes.

"Knuckles?" She spoke.

"Mmmh?"

"I'm sorry… I should have been stronger."

The echidna sighed.

"Yes… You definetelly should have… But what's done it's done. Just thank Chaos to be alive and move on… OR PREPARE TO DINE IN HELL!!!"

She laughed a loud laugh. It's been a while since the last she did it. It was refreshing.

Knuckles smirked a little too…

All of a sudden, both their wrist com. started beeping… And an familiar holographic image appeared from them.

Once again, the emergency call system has been activated…

Bad sign.

* * *

**Somewhere… At the extreme edges of the county.**

A lonely figure was standing tall on a giant rock… Staring the vast horizons in front of him.

He could see the beautiful sight of the sea and the famous Emerald Beach… He could see the silhouette of a big, gate surrounded metropolis not so distant from there… And he could see the vast, immense ancient forest behind it…. Yep! It was a very tall rock the one he was on to.

This being was clearly a Mobian… A rather young hedgehog, for the sake of clarity, but a very particular one… He had 5 strange, long quills that stood vertically on his head and 2 more thick on the back of it. Other 2 quills were behind his shoulders… He wore boots and weird gloves with a unique mark on it.

His yellow eyes were glowing with rage, hate and eagerness…

"After two long years… I've finally found you… Bakeneko!"

And the silver furred hedgehog who's name was the same of his own color… Begun his mission.

Vengeance will be his!


	2. Chapter 2

**2.**

_**The lonely child genius named Miles was in his secret laboratory, working and tinkering at his ridiculously huge inventions… Or so he would have, if his obnoxious and noisy sister wouldn't have been there… Destroying everything she would touch.**_

**"_HI, MILES!!!" She screamed with her high pitched girly voice._**

**"_CREAM! GET OUT OF MY LAB!!!" Yelled back the geeky fox but to no avail._**

_**Suddenly… A humongous anthropomorphic battle mech came out from nowhere… A maniacal laugh could be heard from it's cockpit.**_

**"_HA-HAHA, HAHAHA!" A very stupid laugh, indeed._**

**"_Oh no! It's my arch nemesis, EGGMANDARK!" Cried the irate vulpine. _**

**"_Prepare to suffer humiliating defeat, Miles! I'M THE REAL GENIUS AROUND HERE!!!"_**

_**Miles was about to react, when…**_

**"_Miles! The dinner's ready!" Said the new feminine voice._**

**"_Mum? I thought you was dead!" Said the confused kit._**

**"_Oh, but I am…THANKS TO YOU!"_**

_**And there she was… His mother… His robotizied mother… And he was terrified.**_

_**Her mechanical self was staring at the frightened cub with her red glowing eyes.**_

**"_Well? Don't you want to hug your mommy?" She said while extending her lethal claws toward the fox's direction._**

**"_N-no… NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!" Cried the distressed Kitsune while stepping back in fear… Only to come across another familiar figure._**

**"_Ehi son, wanna play baseball with your old man?" Said the robotic voice of his father… Who was holding an iron mace… With bad intentions._**

**"_I-I don't wanna…" Miles tried to mutter when yet another silhouette came in his view._**

_**Oh no… Anybody but him!**_

**"_Ehi there, little buddy! Wanna do a race with this mondo cool hedgehog?" Sonic… Metal Sonic confidently asked._**

_**And now, the scared kid was surrounded. He curled into a ball and started crying…**_

**"_Please… Please… Leave me alone… Leave me alone… It wasn't my fault… PLEASE!" He desperately pleaded not noticing an improvise change in the scenario…_**

_**He rose his head and gave a good look around… He was back in the forest… And he was not alone.**_

_**A dramatically familiar shadow was upon him.**_

**"_COSMO!!" He cried in hope._**

**"_VOID!!" It solemnly responded._**

_**Miles gulped.**_

_**The now recognizable outline of his latest foe took a red Chaos Emerald out of nowhere and yelled.**_

**"_I WILL FREE MY MASTER, IXIS NAUGUS, FROM HIS PRISON AND CLEAN THIS WORLD FROM IT'S IMPURITIES!!"_**

_**The fox was utterly confused by that remark. Void continued.**_

**"_I'LL DO IT FOR MY MOTHER'S MEMORY! FOR COSMO!!"_**

_**And than, without any logical explanation, Miles was back in his secret hidden laboratory, in his regular dream…**_

_**Strange things happen… IN MILES'S LAB!!!**_

* * *

"Do you think he's okay?" Asked the understandably worried chipmunk lady to the red "shaman".

"Yeah… He'll survive. Although with those injuries, he will probably be asleep for a day or two…" Responded Knuckles right after using his amazing healing abilities on the young sleeping kit in the bed.

Sally Acorn sighed in relief.

When her adopted son showed himself with those ugly injuries, she was overtook by panic and her instinctual reaction was to activate the emergency call system on her wrist com.

No longer after receiving the alarmed message from their former commander in chief, all the Mystic Ruins F.F. rushed for her hut in a great deal of concern.

For the time being, Knuckles had to explain to the squirrel the latest developments… She didn't seem happy with the news.

"YOU'VE LET A ROBOT TO COME IN YOUR BASE!!!?" As a matter of fact, she was furious.

The red echidna had seen this coming a lot of time ago and calmly explained his motivations behind his decisions and course of actions…

"Tails wanted to…"

For some reason, that didn't quite convinced his interlocutor… Which was fuming like a ship, by now. Definetelly not a friendly sight.

Outside Tails's room, the other three F.F. were sitting on old chairs… just thanking the merciful Chaos for not being the sacrificial goat for Sally's wrath.

"There's something I don't understand…" Said the pink hedgehog, Amy Rose, in the feeble attempt to distract herself from the devious screaming sounds.

"What is it?" Replied Blaze, the object of Amy's conversation… Of course it couldn't be Espio, could he?

"Why didn't Knuckles immediately heal your wounded wrists in the first place?" Asked the hedgehog while observing the cat's bandages.

Blaze looked down at her wrists as well, a sore expression in her face…

"Because… He wanted me to feel the pain."

"WHAT!?" Yelled a bemused Amy.

"Yeah… He said that feeling the pain is what keeps us all alive… He wanted me to truly tasted it… So I would appreciate more the gift of Life… And wouldn't do that insane gesture, again."

Amy gave another look at her wounds… Compassion in her eyes.

"Do they hurt a lot?"

Blaze stared back at her.

"Like Hell…" She answered.

And without any advice, the pink girl hugged her cat friend tightly. Blaze felt a little awkward at first but than she hugged her back.

"I.. I really wouldn't know what to do… Without all of you." Muttered the young feline.

Amy sweetly giggled, sincerely moved by the cat's confession.

Espio was asleep, dreaming about 7 chameleon samurais defending a random village from bandits… Whatever.

In that precise moment, Knuckles exited the room he was in, visibly traumatized…

"I had no idea… She knew ALL those words." Yep… Amazingly enough, He's been…

OUT-CURSED!!!

He set on a spare chair and calmed his shaking self. He than looked the others dead in the eyes before talking.

"We need to find Sonic." He said while cracking his namesakes.

Undeniable agreement was showed in the others' body language.

"Do you really think he's the responsible for what happened to Tails?" Asked Amy.

"I don't know… But he's the only track we have…" Quietly replied her leader.

"But he can break the sound barrier on his bare feet! He could have gone anywhere… He could have gone back to Robotropolis as we speak!" Blaze logically stated.

"If that was true, than the other F.F. bases' defense systems would have already detected his passage… A blue blur does not passed unobserved… And they would have advised us by now… No, my theory is that he's still somewhere around the county…"

"What makes you think that?"

"Because, right now, he's afraid… He's like a lost child… In a world that doesn't belong to him… At least, not anymore. I can understand that, since I used to have the same problem… When I became the last of my kind."

Knuckles's unusually profound reasoning left everybody wide eyed and speechless… In Espio's case, only wide eyed.

The red one's face frowned quite miserably, realizing his mistake… He let his emotional barriers to fall, even if for only a moment, and now, they all knew his deepest sorrow.

The tragedy of being the last of a whole species… Alone in a foreign and cold world.

Or at least… He thought he was. He still had hopes…

He hoped he could find his lost family, his parents and sisters, and embrace them once again… Somehow, he felt they were alive somewhere… Or perhaps, he was just deluding himself.

"Knuckles?" The voice of a preoccupied cat girl interrupted his train of thoughts.

"Eh? Oh yes… Listen, I'm gonna look around the county for that hedgehog… Who wants to follow me?" He asked.

Blaze's determined gaze was the un-mistaking answer he was looking for.

"Very well, Blaze… But first…"

Suddenly, he grabbed the cat's arms and healed 'em.

"Here… You won't need those bandages any longer." Muttered the crimson healer.

Blaze simply smiled and nodded in silent gratitude before disposing of the aforementioned bandages.

"Say… Knuckles?" An amused Amy asked.

"What is it?"

"How come you haven't muttered a single curse in almost 10 minutes? Did Sally beat you THAT badly?" She slyly remarked.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" He finally yelled.

"That's the Knuckles we know and love!" Said a laughing Blaze to a blushing redder echidna.

* * *

Clean, calm water. Golden, warm sand. The relaxing sound of the waves. The soft wind through his quills.

Emerald Beach was definetelly The Sight.

He was accustomed to loneliness… He embraced it… All in the name of his quest.

To destroy the cursed beast and save this world from it's fury… But even for the cold hearted being he chose to become, this breath taking view couldn't be ignored.

His arms were crossed and his eyes were closed, he was just tasting it… The peace of it all… The same peace his soul couldn't obtain… At least, not until that moment.

He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the fresh sea air and enjoying it, as much as he could.

"Hi! I didn't think I'd find someone else here this early in the morning."

Immediately, the silver hedgehog uncrossed his arms and turned his head to stare at the new comer… Ready to fight if necessary.

He was quite surprised when he saw who is guest was… Or what he was, for that matter.

It was a creature different from any beings he'd ever known. It had a rotund and nose-less face, light grey skin, green bushy hair and empty black eyes. He wore a black suit with a cloak on it's shoulders… And he was smiling a friendly smile at the hedgehog.

It spoke with a rather juvenile voice.

"My name is Void… May I ask you your name?" He greeted politely.

"… Silver. I'm Silver the Hedgehog." Responded he's interlocutor, escaping from his trance.

"Nice to meet you." Void said while approaching him.

Now that they were near each other, Silver could notice other interesting details about this individual… First of all, the hedgehog was slightly taller than him, a foot and a half at least (not counting the vertical head quills) and secondly… Void appearances, somehow, resembled the one of a plant…

Strange.

"Isn't it beautiful? The sight, I mean…" Void was staring at the sea. "… I always love to come here when I need to clear my thoughts." Than he turned to his guest. "You're not from this zone, right?"

Silver shyly nodded while staring at sea as well.

"So… What brought you here? Vacation… Or, perhaps, some unfinished business?"

The hedgehog turned to the plant like creature, almost in surprise.

_Just… Who is this person?_

The cloaked being smirked at him. What Silver didn't know was that Void had a very peculiar ability… An ability he inherited from her mother… He could read the others' soul through their own eyes.

He didn't have many difficulties in doing so with the silver rodent… Anyone could have noticed that he was troubled.

"It's good to have a purpose in life… I, myself, have one… Just be careful in what you wish for… Or it could consume you." He smiled one last time, before disappearing into nothingness within a green miasma.

The hedgehog literally freaked out.

"That was… Chaos Control! Who was that guy!?" He asked himself. "And how did he know about my mission!?"

An exaggerated number of questions crossed the silver one… Until he decided to dismiss them as "not fundamental".

The only thing he cared about… Was his mission.

And nothing would have distract him from it's accomplishment. He took one last breath…

And rose in midair.

Vengeance was near.


	3. Chapter 3

**3.**

"Cosmo… Cosmo… No… Don't go… ARGH!! VOID!!! STOP!!!"

He was sweating profusely and talking in the sleep.

Clearly a nightmare.

She was worried sick, just like any good mother would be. She put a hand on his little chest in the desperate attempt to keep him down… He was also very agitated.

_**Who is this Void, anyway?** _She asked within herself.

Sally Acorn put her free hand on the Kitsune's head and her eyes widen… His head was burning with fever.

She took the wet towel on Tails's forehead and darted to the kitchen. She didn't have current water or a sewer system, for that matter… Luckily she had bottles full of the Great Lake's fine water… After wetting the towel, she came back to the Kit's room and put it back on his forehead.

This seemed to work and the two-tailed wonder calmed down a little. The chipmunk lady sighed in relief.

Than she heard a knocking sound.

"I wonder who would that be?" She asked the overused line to herself… Deja-vù?

She went for her wood house door and opened it… And she saw him.

A silver-white Mobian hedgehog with curious pointed head quills.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before the squirrel decided to break the ice.

"Ehrrr… Good morning. Can I help you?" She politely said.

The stranger put on a mischievous grin.

"Where… Is… SHE!!?"

* * *

**The forest.**

"Ok! Here's the Chaosdamned plan!" Yelled the pissed off-able leader. "We split up!"

"NOT AGAIN!!!" The others replied in chorus.

"Remember what happened the last time?" Blaze added.

Of course, he remembered… How could he ever forget that day.

Tails miraculously won a fight against Shadow and than he was abducted by the black hedgehog himself… Than Knuckles ordered his team to split up in order to cover more territory for the rescue research…

On that fatal day, each and everyone of them has been put against their deepest fears and weaknesses…

A warrior's strength was horribly tested.

A silent killer's ominous past relived in front of his eyes.

A fragile girl faced her insecurities.

A young brilliant kit almost lost his sanity.

And a fiery lady… Just burnt things up.

They ALL do remembered it quite well… But there weren't other options and Knuckles knew it. They had to split up or the chances of finding the blue object of their quest would have been really slim.

"Just… Fucking do it!" He quietly replied. "And if you find him, do NOT engage battle and contact the rest of us immediately… You all know how to use the emergency call system, don't you?"

They nodded.

"Fan-freakin-tastic! NOW LET'S GO!" With that said, or better, screamed, they darted away in different directions.

* * *

**The hut.**

"I won't ask it again... Where... Is... THE BAKENEKO!!!?" Screamed the irate hedgehog.

"S-she's… I-in the… F-forest… Somewhere. Please… I d-don' t know anything." Her weak reply.

She really didn't know… He had ensured that she would tell the truth… With his own methods.

His face was the picture of frustration.

_**No matter… I'm so damn close! I won't let her to escape! You're MINE, Demon of Flames, MINE!!!** _He sadistically thought before rushing out of the hut…

Leaving a mercilessly beaten squirrel lady on her house's floor.

"B-Blaze…" Her bloody mouth muttered.

* * *

Being the oldest member on this section of the Militia (in terms of fighting experience), Knuckles was accustomed in dealing with awkward situations during scouting missions… The sight he was beholding right now, however, made him feel rather uncomfortable… Not to mention, deadly sick.

It's been a while since his lat meeting with this guy and, as he sorely remembered, it hasn't been very amusing. Not at all.

He could still feel it… The sensation of skin and bones crushing on his huge fist… And all the blood reversed on it.

There he was, in front of him… Rotten flesh... Body partially eaten by the local feral animals…

The decaying rests of Fang the Sniper.

The echidna could recognize it because of the canvas hat he used to wear… And some of the purple fur… Between the shreds of organs and the maggots.

The smell was unbearable… A thing he recognized all too well…

The awful smell…

The burnt huts…

The dead bodies…

A lonely echidna child surrounded by Death…

Knuckles dismissed his grim memory and returned to the grim present. He decided, against his own will, to give a better look at the "has been" fearless mercenary.

There was a particular item that attracted the echidna's attention… It was one of the Sniper's handguns.

It disturbed him a lot, the thought that there actually were Mobians who ended up using human weapons… It feels so wrong in Knuckles's head.

Forcing himself to go through his repulsion, he picked up the pistol in his big hand…

Something was written on it's reed…

To his utter shock, He recognized it as… The ancient Echidna language!

It was a single word but full of meanings.

"Wrath…"

Something clicked inside the red warrior's brain. He'd heard of something like this before… A mysterious group of Mobian rejects who followed the human warfare way… And the leader's name… Was Kalit.

Kalit… A familiar name… All too familiar.

Knuckles's cerulean eyes were literally flaming with glee while a suspicious grin made it's way out of his lips…

He gave one last look at the symbol on the gun's reed and maliciously smirked.

"Kalit... Eh eh eh eh eh... I've finally found you!" And than, he started laughing like possessed.

* * *

Amy Rose was not in a good mood… The shouting hammer in her hands and the fuming ears were a clear enough clue for that.

She had all the reasons in the world for not being solar… The last time she ran alone in the forest, she almost ended up raped by a certain black and red hedgehog in a that dark wood… Not to mention what happened at the Great lake a little month after…

_**Grrr… If that no good would be rapist dares to show his face again… His brother was nice, though…**_

As if on cue, a certain grey and dull green hedgehog appeared in front of the, let's say, surprised pink hedgehog.

Her instinctual reaction was to swing her hammer on his head while screaming "FOR SPARTA" but at the last second she realized her mistake.

"Ehe! Is that the way you greet old friends?" Said the un-mistakable deep and polite voice of Mephiles the Dark.

"Oh! It's you, Mephiles! I'm sorry, I thought it was the other one… You know…" She declared with a hint of shame.

The dull one stared at her with his unique snake eyes. She felt a little uncomfortable with that.

"What… What's wrong?" She shyly asked.

Mephiles smirked.

"You know… I didn't quite realize how beautiful your eyes are, the last time we met." He replied with a charming tone.

She blushed and started to play with her fingers… She was acting like a timid schoolgirl at her first date with the boy of her dreams. He noticed it and continued.

"You know? Shadow is a lucky guy."

At that remark she seemed to getting a little irate.

"SHADOW!!!? THERE'S NOTHING BETWEEN ME AND HIM!!! HE ONLY TRIED TO RAPE ME… TWICE!!!" She yelled at him.

Mephiles's smirk only became larger.

"Really? That's good because… I happen to be interested in you as well."

"What… Are you saying?" Suddenly, her head felt lighter… And her heart skipped some beat.

"To put it simply… I like you… A lot."

She almost fainted.

_**Oh my Chaos… Oh my Chaos… Oh my Chaos… He loves me! What do I do, now!?**_

He approached her… They almost were nose to nose…

_**Nononononononononono… Wait! I'm not ready… I'm not ready yet… **_

"Just relax, Amy… And trust me…"

She closed her eyes in waiting… And received a violent punch in the stomach!

"… NOT!" He concluded.

She fell unconscious in his arms.

"Sleep well my rose…" He said before teleporting himself away with a Chaos Control.

* * *

Espio was a silent killer, trained in the art of stealth attacks and mimetic… Therefore, when the object of his quest easily noticed his presence, he was deeply hurt in his honor…

He's been lucky, amazingly lucky actually, to just find him, asleep (or just pretending to be) on a random rock… In the middle of an open tulip field…

Sonic the Hedgehog, also known as Metal Sonic, was there.

"Yeah, I know you're there… My enhanced robotic hearing whatever can detect anything in the range of a mile…" He non-chalantly muttered.

The chameleon was about to call the others for back up but he decided otherwise for two simple reasons…

1) They wouldn't come to his aid in time, in case of attack.

2) He wouldn't nor he couldn't talk… That's pretty inconvenient!

"You can come out, buddy, I won't hurt ya." The hedgehog's voice was back at his usual carefree tone… Certainly an improvement from his original emotionless one.

The violet ninja followed the suggestion and came out from the shadows he was hiding himself in. The fake skinned hedgehog turned to his direction and immediately recognized him.

"Well… If it isn't ma old pal, Silent Bob!" Obnoxious, as always.

Espio had to resist the urge of using him as a practice target for his shurikens. Sonic approached him and now they were eye to eye… Or better, eye to chameleonic horn… It would have been painful if Sonic's eye wouldn't have been made of solid anti-bullet glass.

The two of them stared each other for a few awkward moments before the metalhog started.

"I know whatcha thinking, man! I see ya noticed my skinless arm…" He said while showing the aforementioned robotic, clawed arm to his ehrrrr… "Interlocutor". "… Why didn't I tell ya about it, ya may ask? Well, I was scared okay? Yeah, I may have a robotizied body but I can still feel emotions… Or at least, I think." He added with a saddened look on his face.

Espio just stood there in silence with his arms crossed and a blank expression on his face… It was difficult to say who was the robot and who wasn't.

"Yes, yes, I know! I shouldn't have left ya guys, in that way… But you should have seen Tails's expression when he found out… I-I couldn't stand it, it was too much!"

Espio didn't even shrug.

"You think I overreacted!? YOU WASN'T EVEN THERE, PAL!"

……

"Ok… Sorry if I yelled… You know what? You're right! I should probably come back and redeem myself, somehow… At least in that kid's eyes… He sees me like a super mondo cool hero, you know?"

……

"Why are you rolling your eyes? Whatever… Thanks, Espy-san! You've been a great one to talk! Now, I know what I have to do! LET'S JUICE!!!" And before the chameleon could protest, the reborn mondo cool hedgehog grabbed his arm and darted away in the forest…

* * *

Blaze the Cat was having a panic attack.

_**No… No… Not him… No… he was dead… How could that be… He's here… He came for me… HE'S HERE!!!**_

Vengeance was upon her.


	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

_**Tails found himself inside a huge lobby… It was somehow familiar but he couldn't figured out why. He noticed an old fashioned writing machine on a random table… He slowly approached it and picked up the fine peace of paper that was inside of it… He red the paper and, to his utter horror, he saw only one phrase written on it… Constantly repeated… Again and again and again…**_

**"_Without Cosmo and his beloved parents, Tails goes insane."_**

_**There were other papers nearby… And each and everyone of them had this single line written on… **_

_**Thousands of papers.**_

_**What was the meaning of that?**_

_**Than the vulpine turned his head and saw himself… Or better, a deranged, psychopath and deadly axe in hands, version of himself… It look at him with crazy eyes before yelling:**_

**"_Honey? I'm home!"_**

_**It was about to murder Tails when a sudden light came out of nowhere and got rid of it. The Kitsune covered his eyes for a moment… Then he reopened them… And he saw her…**_

_**His angel…**_

_**His one and only love…**_

_**His Cosmo.**_

**"_Hello Tails." She said, looking gorgeous as always with her big blue eyes and delicate leaf hair._**

**"_C-Cosmo… It's really you? You're not Void, are you?" _**

**"_Of course I am, silly." She replied giggling in her cute way._**

_**Tails couldn't contain his tears anymore…**_

**"_COSMO!!!" _**

_**He hugged her tightly without any intensions in letting her go.**_

**"_I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!!" He sobbed between tears._**

_**She hugged him back… Caressing him and consoling him like a mother with her son.**_

**"_I didn't die back there Tails… As incredible as it could be… I used Chaos Control to teleport myself into another dimension along with that missile…" She reassured. "…I ended up in this dark and crystallized place where, strangely enough, that thing didn't explode…"_**

_**Now the vulpine seemed confused.**_

**"_It didn't explode… How?" Asked the famous rational part of the kit._**

_**Cosmo released the embrace and frowned.**_

**"_I believe… It's the doing of my… 'Roommate'."_**

**"_Roommate?"_**

_**And now, Cosmo's face was showing genuine fear.**_

**"_Tails. You have to listen to me… We only have a few minutes before He would find us…"_**

**"_Who's He? Eggman? Void?" Hypothesized the fox cub._**

**"_Neither the mad man nor my… Son." She hinted some distress in the last word._**

**"_Then who?" Insisted the now impatient vulpine._**

_**The Seedrian took a moment to collect her thoughts…**_

**"_An ancient evil… Way more powerful and dangerous than the doctor will ever be… And if He will be liberated from his prison… For all us, will be a catastrophe!"_**

_**Tails gulped.**_

**"_He's plan has already begun and he ensured himself my son's services… And some Chaos Emerald too! You must stop him before it's too late!" She continued._**

**"_Just… Who is this guy?"_**

**"_A potent sorcerer with powers great enough to bend reality itself at his pleasure… He's name is… IXIS NAUGUS!!!" She said solemnly._**

**"…_. Ictus Bogus?" He replied._**

**"……_."_**

* * *

What is the correct definition of the word "Nemesis"? Does anybody stopped a moment to reflect on this?

It's a term that descended from ancient Greek. It happened to be the name of an half-goddess who's job was to bring revenge over the disrespectful mortals who dared to defy the Olympian Gods' rules… Her name meant "Vendetta". During the course of ages, this interesting word assumed another signification… Nemesis is a one's perfect opposite and, for that reason, the perfect enemy…

And in that moment, Blaze the cat had him right in front of her… Her opposite… Her worst enemy… The one who, ironically enough, was looking for violent revenge.

The one she once loved… And still loved, for that matter.

He was staring at her with his eager yellow eyes, evilly smirking… Already tasting his imminent triumph.

She was, to use an euphemism, tremendously terrified, panicked and over all scared. She knew why he was here… She could feel it in her soul… And she could see it in his wanton gaze.

There were a lot of things she wanted to say to him… So many questions… One in particular…

How did he survive?

She hadn't, however, the material time to ask it… Since she had to avoid a lethal psychokinetic energy wave that took out a few trees in the process…

"You're done hiding, cursed Bakeneko! FOR THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD, I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!" The fanatic silver hedgehog yelled… Showing a fair level of madness in doing so.

Another shot of energy was launched from the glowing symbol on the palm of his hand, narrowly missing the agile cat who, by now, was struggling for her life… While still panicking.

"I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR TWO LONG YEARS!!!" He cried, still looking mad.

"SILVER! PLEASE WAIT!!!" She cried as well, trying to reason with him.

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO ME!! YOU WILL DIE HERE, BAKENEKO!!!"

Again… He used that word. He called her Bakeneko… The name of the legendary Monster Cat of Flames…

That hurt her… A lot.

And what was worst… Was that she agreed with him.

She's been the one who's birth was cursed by the Flames of Disaster… She's been the one who burnt down her own city because of her weakness… She's the one who took all those lives…

And she's the one who ruined the silver hedgehog's life. In her mind, he had all the rights to claim revenge.

She suddenly stopped moving and stood still… A frowned expression on her face. Silver was a little taken aback by this… This battle wasn't anywhere near he had imagined it.

"After all these years… After all that we shared together… That is all you have to say?" She put on a sad smile and continued. "I've missed you, Silver… In ways you can't even think…"

The male seemed interested in her speech.

"I used to love you, as a matter of fact, I still do… But… I understand that, what I've done 2 years ago, is unforgivable… I, myself, didn't forgive me for my actions… Even if I didn't do it on purpose…"

She took a deep breath and than she looked Silver dead in the eye. The hedgehog stared back.

"… Do what you have to do… And leave." She solemnly muttered, sitting on the grassy ground and crossing her legs… In wait.

She closed her eyes, expecting a deadly shot to put an end at her miseries.

What she received, instead… Killed her in more ways than physical.

Laughter.

He was laughing at her… Hysterically… Madly… Evilly.

Laughter.

She was speechless… Her eyes widen.

Again… laughter.

And he laughed and laughed and laughed… Until his delighted expression turned into a genuinely evil one.

"You're soooooo pathetic, you know that?" He replied with a grin, showing her his sharp teeth.

Blaze was mouth agape. Shock quite visible.

"And to think… That I was expecting you to be a worthy opponent… I'VE BEEN TRAINING FOR TWO DAMN YEARS FOR THIS!!!?" He yelled in rage.

The cat was still silent… Too astonished to talk back.

"Did you really think that I would have spared you if you acted like a martyr? HA! That's freaking hilarious! You're the cursed Bakeneko! The messenger of the Apocalypse… You have no soul!" He boldly remarked.

A peculiar cracking sound could be heard in the fragile peace of the forest… It was Blaze's heart.

He continued.

"Your only existence is a sin… I should have killed you a long time ago… 'Queen Blaze'!" The way he pronounced her former regal name was voluntarily ironic.

She was shaking. NOT in fear.

"It doesn't matter now… I shall put an end at your sinful life, right here and now… I'm the TRUE Chosen One by the Gods… Not you!" He finished.

That was it.

She couldn't believe it… She couldn't believe that this freak was the same person that she romantically depicted as her Charming Prince… She couldn't believe she was in love with this fanatic jerk…

Most of all, she couldn't believe that she almost dropped her life… For him!

"You…"

"What?"

"YOU BASTARD!!! YOU'RE NOTHING MORE THAN BRAINLESS DOUCHEBAG!!!" For some reason, she just loved that insult.

His face was unreadable.

Blaze's face, however, was the portrait of anger and her eyes were literally burning.

"I've just realized something…" She continued saying, calmly this time. "… Perhaps you're right, maybe I am the Bakeneko, the cursed demon of fire… Maybe this world could be a better place without me… Maybe I deserve to die for my actions… BUT!!!" her tail started to burn. "… If I'll let myself to get killed…" Fireballs in hands. "… By a fanatic fucker like you…" And her feet were now blazing. "THAN ALL MY LIFE WOULD HAVE REALLY BEEN POINTLESS!!!" She was, now, ready for him.

He seemed amused.

"YES! THAT'S HOW I WANTED IT! LET'S FIGHT, DEMON OF FLAMES!!!"

"My name… IS BLAZE!!!"

And the fight begun.

Immediately, Silver used his telekinesis to grab some of the trees around, than he launched them toward the flaming feline. She grinned and with a simple movement of her hand, reduced the trees to ashes.

They went for a close quarters combat: Blaze shot some of her fireballs to Silver, who shielded himself with his psychic powers. He responded to the fire with his energy beams, the cat shielded herself with a wall of fire that came out of nowhere.

They repeated this action for a few times before realizing that they were evenly matched. They paused in the middle of the battlefield, which, for some reason, became larger over the past minutes… Less trees and more dust.

The two of them were breathing heavily, trying to recover faster than the other…

The two enemies.

The two opposites.

"Anf… Anf… Ehe! Eh eh eh eh eh!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!"

"What's so funny, Silver!?"

"Oh nothing… I'M JUST ABOUT TO WIN!!!" He yelled before disappearing into nothingness.

She wasn't excepting this… Or the sudden kick in the stomach, for that matter. He reappeared right in front of her, with a diabolical smirk on his face… And a blue colored gem in one hand.

She slowly and painfully rose from the ground, spitted some blood from her mouth and gave a good look at the sadly familiar jewel.

"That's a… A Chaos Emerald!" She muttered not quite under her breath.

His smile grew even bigger.

"Indeed, my dear flaming beast… This jewel has been within my family for generations! I personally inherited it from my father, you know, but it seems that only I can properly utilize it's powers… Guess I must be the chosen being from the legends… The chosen one from Natural Selection… THE FIRST ELEMENT OF A WHOLE NEW RACE!!!"

The legends the hedgehog was talking about were the ones that said that only the first being, of a specific race, who showed physical or mental changes caused by the doing of Natural Selection could claim the true power of the Chaos Emeralds… In other words, the being must be chosen by Chaos and Nature themselves… Or the Gods, in the maniacal silver hedgehog's case.

That's what the legends say.

"As soon as I kill you… I will turn all the hedgehog females in Mobius into mothers for my future children and then, my superior genes shall be spread all over the world… MY PERFECT RACE WILL RULE THIS PLANET!!!" He yelled in a humongous display of derailed madness while showing the appropriate facial expression for the moment.

Blaze turned her head in utter disgust.

"That is the most revolting thing I've ever heard… To think that I used to love you… Ugh! I'm going to throw up now, thanks a lot!"

"SHUT UP, LESSER BEING AND FEEL MY WRATH!!!" He raised his blue emerald for an emphatic effect…

"Not so fast, pal!"

"What?"

A blue blur came out from nowhere, kicking the psycho hedgehog square in his chest in a perfect "This Is Sparta" style! The silver one ended up hitting a tree… And now he was furious.

The smirking blue hedgehog in front of him just raised his middle finger in the typical taunting fashion.

"HOW DARE YOU DEFY ME, YOU PEST!!!" Cried the irate would be gene spreader… Yuk!

He was about to launch some of his psychic spears when… A shuriken found it's way into his shoulder.

"AAAARRRGH!!! WHO'S THE MISERABLE WORM WHO DID THIS!!?"

The silhouette of a chameleon suddenly appeared on the left side of Sonic. It was Espio.

"Tsk. Tsk. A cool party like this… And we hadn't been invited? I feel quite offended!" Again, Sonic put on his fake British accent. "… I demand satisfaction, Sir!"

Espio smirked too, ninja stars in hand, eager to impale the new comer.

Blaze couldn't find the words to describe her surprise… She just stood there… Staring.

Silver, on the other hand…

"I'LL SEND YOU BOTH TO HELL!!!" He yelled, even more crazed now (if possible) before launching them all the psychic arrows he could manage.

They both easily avoided them while reducing their distance from their silverish target.

When he was sufficiently near, Sonic did something no one was expecting… He rose in midair… Curled into a ball… And performed a Homing Attack!

Neither Blaze nor Espio could believe this… They thought that only Shadow could do such a move… Apparently, they were wrong.

The flying pinhead attack missed a bewildered Silver only by inches and took off a few trees instead. The psychic fanatic could move out just in the nick of time… Or at least, the grand part of him…

The metal hedgehog exited from his rolling position, holding an unexpected trophy in his hand… A bloody trophy.

He smirked while showing to a bewildered Silver, his severed left arm…

The crazed hog looked down where his arm where supposed to be, only to find out that it was missing.

"And now I'm ARMED and dangerous!" Sadistically joked the fake skinned cobalt hedgehog.

Espio gave him a satisfying look while Blaze was feeling a little sick… For the bad joke not for the cut off arm.

At this point, Silver had definetelly surpassed the proverbial boiling point…

"You… Did… Just… TURNED ME INTO A FREAK!!!"

"I beg your pardon, Sir Freaks-a-lot!" He ironically replied.

Then… Silver's eyes became red… Not a good sign. He still had his emerald in the other arm. A strange red aura surrounded his body, which was absorbing the gem's power.

A sudden fear came into the metal brain of Sonic and immediately yelled to the others.

"TAKE COVER!!! HE'S GONNA BLOW!!!"

But it was already late…

Silver's body changed color from white to red while releasing some dark electric thunders… Then he finally screamed the damned line.

"CHAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOSSSSS… BLAST!!!!!"

A gigantic explosion of red energy engulfed the entire battlefield, leaving no room for hiding places…

Blaze was about to be assimilated by the blasting energy when…

"Outta way, sex stuff!!" Yelled the obnoxious voice of a certain would be lady-killer… Right before pushing the cat far away at the very last second… Taking the blast for her.

"SOOOONIIIIIIC!!!" She cried but to no avail… After a few short seconds it was all over.

And there they were…

A one-armed hedgehog, drained and exhausted but still standing strong… Grinning.

A purple chameleon ninja half burnt alive… But somehow still breathing.

And a robotizied courageous comrade… Lying on the ground nearby a shocked Blaze… With a big hole where is stomach was supposed to be.

Again… It came the laughter.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! DID HE REALLY THINK HE COULD STOP ME!? I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!!!" Cried in victory the demented gene spreader.

Yes, he laughed… For the very last time.

The cat girl was on her knees… Tears were descending from her eyes… Tears of sadness… Tears of remorse…

Tears of burning rage.

"Thank you… Fool!" She started speaking with a voice that didn't belong to her… They many different voices, as a matter of fact.

Her nemesis stared at her in amazement… And fear. He knew what that meant… And just too late, he realized his fatal mistake.

The one once known as Blaze continued to talk.

"It's been too long since our last outburst… And thanks to you… THE FLAMES OF DISASTER ARE FREE ONCE AGAIN!!! LET US BRING THIS WORLD INTO IT'S BLAZING END!!!"

And for the first time since the Soleanna incident… The Flames were in control.

The Bakeneko has been unleashed.


	5. Chapter 5

**5.**

The once lilac color of the fur, became blood red…

Pupils were gone…

Rings of fire surrounded her wrists…

A blazing aura encircled her body.

The transformation was now, complete.

What a beautiful spectacle… The Apocalypse was.

The Demon of Flames slowly rose in midair, nothing more than blind fury in it's features. It's soulless eyes looked down at her opponent… The one who dared to challenge it… The one who caused it's awakening…

It grinned at him.

"BE GONE!!"

And so, the once fanatic, vengeful, one-armed, silver colored hedgehog… Became a rodent torch of unforgiving fire…

First, consumed by Vengeance. Then, consumed by the flames… How appropriate.

His screams of sheer terror and pain echoed in all the forest while his flesh was burning mercilessly… Until nothing more than a carbonized body, was left. His gene spreading projects were finished even before commencing.

His blue emerald rolled away from his lifeless hand…

It laughed. It tasted the moment. It breathed the smoke.

"EVERYTHING SHALL BURN!!!" It yelled, still in midair, still blazing.

A shuriken tried to hit the beast but ended up melted even before touching it's vessel body. The Bakeneko didn't even notice Espio's weak attempt to stop it's wrath.

"FOOLISH MORTALS! FEEL MY FLAMES!!!"

It raised it's arms toward the sky and hundreds of lethal fireballs were shot from it's hands, burning down to ashes everything they would hit…

In mere seconds, entire sections of the forest disappeared into flaming glories… And so it would have the whole county… If a certain someone didn't decide to take action!

He came out from nothing, he simply appeared in front of the demon, completely ignoring it's fiery shield. He quickly put an hand on the surprised Bakeneko's forehead.

"WHAT!!!?" It cried but to no avail.

"This ends now!" He cried back.

Void hold his red Chaos Emerald tightly in the other hand and solemnly pronounced:

"CHAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOSSS… REGENERATION!!!!"

A huge sphere of white light engulfed the burnt battlefield.

After a whole minute, the light was gone, along with Void and Blaze, and the forest was back at it's former splendor… Trees were grown, green grass was all over and there weren't left any signs whatsoever of the previous fight. It was like if nothing happened at all.

Espio saw everything and couldn't quite believe his eyes. Unfortunately for him, the so called Chaos Regeneration technique hadn't only worked on plants…

He turned his head and saw the third degree burnt figure of the one-armed hedgehog once known as Silver… Clearly infuriated.

"Eheheheheheheheheheheheh… DIE!!!" He muttered while preparing an energy beam with Espio's name written on it.

A beam was, indeed, shot… But it wasn't the hedgehog's.

He looked down… There was a peculiar hole were his stomach previously used to be. He slowly turned to see his killer in face…

He found himself quite shocked when he apprehended that his powerful murderer… Was a child.

There he stood, smoking hand's palm pointed over the mad rodent's direction, Silver's blue Chaos Emerald in the other hand and a couple of angry, glowing eyes…

Miles "Tails" Prower looked rather pissed off.

"That was for Sally… YOU BASTARD!!!" He yelled in anger.

Silver simply collapsed on the ground, muttering incomprehensible words in the process…

This time he was dead for good.

Espio gazed at the kit with thankful eyes.

"Don't mention it." Tails said, his angry face returned to the normal happy one.

"WOAH! THAT WAS MONDO EXTREMO, LITTLE BRO!!!" Screamed an un-mistaking obnoxious voice.

Both the Kitsune and the reptile turned their heads to see a certain cobalt blue hedgehog standing nearby with a disfiguring hole on his stomach… It was kind of awkward, to say the least.

"What?" He asked to the bewildered duo, then he took a look at his body and realization hit. "Oh… This! Don't worry buds, being made of metal has it's advantages… This hedgehog doesn't die that easily!" He reassured.

Tails was about to reply but he was interrupted by Knuckles who just arrived in that precise moment.

The red echidna glanced at his surroundings… There was a physically battered violet chameleon, a two-tailed kit with a suspicious glowing gold aura around his body and a blue hedgehog with a hole where his stomach was supposed to be…

Knuckles asked the "1 million dollars" question!

"Did I miss something?"

The three of them just sighed in chorus.

Then a dead serious Tails approached his red leader and solemnly uttered:

"We need to find… The 7 Chaos Emeralds!"

* * *

The gentle sea breeze caressed her fur, making her feeling comfortable… Calm… In peace with the whole world. She couldn't believe she would ever feel like that again.

Emerald Beach had this effect on the troubled souls… And she wasn't an exception. The venomous Flames that used to consume her heart were magically gone.

It didn't matter what she'd done in the past… It didn't matter what she was just about to do in the present time… It didn't matter anymore.

Blaze was in Paradise… And her angelic savior was with there…

"Thank you… Void." She quietly muttered while feeling the peaceful wind.

Void, from behind her, put one of his strange, 3-fingered, clawed hands on the cat's left shoulder. His facial features were showing a distressful sadness.

"I'm sorry, Blaze… For all the troubles I've thrown on you." He said in a tone that matched his emotional state.

The former Bakeneko was listening intently. He continued.

"It was me the one who told Silver where to find you… Through his dreams… I'm really sorry for that." He tightened his grip on Blaze's shoulder and frowned.

She slowly turned and look the Seedrian in the eyes… Those lonely, empty, black eyes… And smiled sweetly.

He was taken aback by this.

"You saved me Void… Not just from the Flames that were consuming me… But you healed my soul as well! You're just like your mother… You're just like Cosmo." She said while caressing his cheek. "You are so similar to her…" She now had tearful eyes… She still missed her adopted sister.

"I wish it was true…" He sorely added. "… In reality, I am nothing more than a vicious manipulator… I used Silver as a short cut to get at you… I hoped that you would actually lose your control so I could come and capture you without other people's interference…" He was sincerely feeling sick of himself.

"And why did you that?" She was still smiling.

That only made him feel worse.

"It was my father… My master's order… He wanted you to be a part of our group and…"

"Yes?"

"… I wished that too. You see, Blaze… I inherited Cosmo's powers when I was born… That means that I also have her memories… Her dreams, her nightmares, her deepest fears and darkest thoughts… And the ones about the people she loved the most…" He looked the cat girl in her gorgeous yellow eyes. "… Tails and you."

She could no longer contain her tears. She hugged the young Seedrian in front of her, crying softly.

"I-I don't know… When her emotions end? And when my true personality begins? I-I don't even know if I have one! Am I just Cosmo's rip-off?" He added while hugging Blaze back.

"You are a beautiful person, Void… You saved me! Don't you get it? That was you, not Cosmo!" She consoled him.

"T-Thanks." He said, blushing a little.

They released their embrace.

"Tell me about your father." She asked, changing the topic.

"Well… He's not really my father… He took me when I was born and teleported me in the dimension he was trapped… I grew up in there and developed my powers into perfection…"

"You was born from Cosmo's seed, right? But that was just a month ago! You seem to have my own age!" She replied in astonishment.

"Time works a little differently in the Sanctuary dimension… A month here equals 15 years down there." He explained, showing an "I know everything" kind of face.

In doing so, Blaze found that he had some similarities with Tails… She couldn't help but giggle at the thought. Then her mind went back to the main thing.

"You mean to tell me… That you have spent your entire life inside that cold dark place?" She felt great sympathy and compassion toward him.

"My master spent the eternity inside of it, for that matter! He was a powerful sorcerer who was trapped into that prison by the ignorant people who feared his abilities… He was different… Just like you and me… And Tails and Knuckles and even that weird Sonic person, I guess… We're all different… We're all superior… We are chosen by Chaos and Nature themselves!"

Blaze flinched a little… She used to think of herself like that when she was younger… Her people used to believe it too… Was she really a chosen one and not just a birth mistake? Was she the next step of the feline evolution? Her fertile mind tried to picture a world full of blazing cats like her… She shook the disturbing thought away.

"If your master is that powerful, why couldn't he break free from his prison… And how could you enter it in the first place?" She logically wondered.

The answer came immediately.

"The mages that sealed him into that dimension used the power of the emeralds to do it… Even his powers aren't great enough to break that seal… He can, however, teleport other people in his dimension but only if they accept to come… I did."

"But you were an infant!"

"I DID AND THAT'S THAT!!"

He paused a little to take some breath.

"That's why I need to get the Chaos Emeralds in order to free him… You're friends had one, now… I, myself, have one… Still 5 remain." He declared while showing her his red emerald… The one he's had from her mother… The one he was born with.

"Why do you want to free him?" She calmly asked.

He smiled.

"Because, he has the powers to make this world a better place for us to live… Without wars and without violence… Because it was her dream… Her last wish…" He paused again and glanced back at the cat, dead seriousness in his black orbits. "Will you help me realize it, Blaze the Cat?"

The ominous convincement of his tone made the question seemed like a marriage proposal. She took some seconds to reflect… Then, just like a willing bride at the altar, she accepted it.

"I do."

He smiled, took her soft gloved hand into his ugly, 3-fingered claw, then he put his emerald back in his chest… Where it used to be since he was born… And summoned a Chaos Control.

"Blaze?"

"Tell me."

"How was my mother?"

"She was gentle and caring… But she also had doubts. Just like anybody, Void… Just like anybody."

"Thank you."

And the "married couple" disappeared into the proverbial nothingness.

* * *

"So… Let me get this straight! Cosmo (which is NOT dead) came visiting you in your dreams and told you that a creepy guy named Cactus Fungus…"

"It's Ixis Naugus, Knuckles…" The kit corrected.

"Whatever… A fucking sorcerer is using Cosmo's son, the same that beat the hell out of you for no apparent reason, in order to collect the Chaos Emeralds so he could get out from his freaking dimensional prison and destroy the world as we know it…"

"Uh-huh…"

"… And we MUST get to the emeralds before he does so we can save the whole damned planet… Did I forget anything?" Sarcastically muttered the echidna.

"Blaze has been mondo bad abducted by the Void dude… Right after she almost eradicated the county… Oh! And Tails blasted the hell out of that freknohog with an uber cool energetic beam!" Added Sonic, who by now, was on an operating table… With Tails trying to fix his mondo ugly stomach hole. "Ehi, ehi! Easy there, Dr Tailsenstein… That chainsaw tickles!!"

"It's just a screwdriver, Sonic... And that's what you deserve for running away like that!" The fox replied not hiding his sadness.

The metal one felt ashamed for that.

"I'm sorry, Tails." He simply muttered, guilt was shown on his synthetic facial features.

The boy genius angry expression softened until it turned into a smiling one.

"… Just, don't do it again, ok? Robot or not robot, you are a friend of us… And a Freedom Fighter too!"

"Yeah… Yeah… Just like your freaking uncle Chuck." Knuckles impatiently replied.

Suddenly… A metallic tilt could be heard inside the hedgehog brain…

"UNCLE MONDO CHUCK!!!?"

His reaction was so unexpected that Tails found himself catapulted out of the infirmary room and right on Espio's meditation pose…

After avoiding a few poisoned daggers from the not-so-relaxed chameleon, the vulpine came back to the room.

By now, Knuckles had already explained the situation to the agitated Metal Sonic.

"My unc is a mondo cool spy!!!"

He was so excited at the idea that he started singing the "Goldfinger" theme song… How did know about it, was a mystery even for me.

"Please… SHUT UP! I want us to focus on the main topic, here… Why I can't help but feel that this whole 'collect the Chaosdamned Emeralds before that Bonus Malus guy does' story is a bunch of pig shit!?"

"He's name is Ixis Naugus!" Again corrected the irritated fox.

"Yeah Knuckle-head! His name is ehrrrr… Pixies Chorus!" Added a particularly dumb metallic rodent.

"YOU CALLED ME KNUCKLE-HEAD, AGAIN!!! AND THE NAME IS RAPTORS NAUTILUS!!" Yelled the easily anger-able echidna.

"BOTH OF YOU! SHUT UP!! FOR CHAOS'S SAKE!!!" Finally screamed the distressed kit.

The other two were about to argue when… Knuckles's wrist com. started beeping and Maximillian Acorn's hologram came out from it.

"Knuckles?" He said. "We need to collect the 7 Chaos Emeralds."

From that day on… "Utter Astonishment" became the echidna's second name… Along with "pissed off-able" and "Chaosdamned cluster fuck".

* * *

After the Freedom Fighters moved into the computer room, Maximillian's figure appeared on the screen and explained the current situation to all of them…

"After days of intense and balanced discussions with the other members of the Mobian Council…" What the old chipmunk meant was, after days of savage beatings and hardcore wrestling contests… "… We came into a conclusion! The Chaos Emeralds could be the perfect weapons to defeat the Eggman menace once and for all…" He then looked at Sonic. "And we know for certain where one of them is… Why don't you show them, Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Everybody's faces where fixed over the hog in question. Sonic sighed.

"Ya got me there, Alvin!" He then opened a compartment placed on his chest and pulled out… A light blue Chaos Emerald!

They all looked at him in surprise, except Max, who was smirking in satisfaction through the screen.

Metal Sonic noticed their collective gazes.

"What? Haven't you seen a robotizied hedgehog pulling out a fist sized jewel from his chest, before?" He paused for a moment, thinking at the idiocy of his question. "… Guess not." He concluded.

"YOU HAD IT FOR ALL THE FUCKING TIME!!!?" Yelled an enraged Knuckles.

"Ya never asked…" He muttered… Putting his own life in serious jeopardy.

"Calm down, you too." Said the former royal. "By the way, we knew about the emerald thanks to Sir Charles… A reliable agent as always."

Pride was filling the hedgehog's features when he managed a smile.

"My unc is a mondo cool hedgehog… Almost like myself!" He said, grinning.

"Wait a sec… Where did you find that emerald, Sonic?" The ever so logical vulpine asked.

"I stole it from uncle Ivehrrrr… I mean Eggman's laboratory when I escaped… That's the main reason he's after me…" If Sonic could, he would have shivered. "… He personally came to the forest to kill me, no longer than a couple of days ago."

An earthquake of "HE WHAT!!!?" shook the entire Mobius… A couple of car accidents were registered in Station Square and, somewhere in Robotropolis, a certain mad doctor's sensitive ears whistled.

"HE WAS HERE IN THE HOLY SHITTING FOREST AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US!!! YOU, STUPID FUCKER!!!"

While an over, over…. Over infuriated Knuckles was shouting unreadable things about the metal hedgehog's heritage and ancestors… Tails's brain isolated itself in order to better focus on the current situation and come out with a proper plan of action.

_**So… Eggman is looking for the emeralds too… That's definetelly no good! No! Scratch that… That's a total darn mess! At least, now we have an excuse to look for them… We are going to need everybody's help for this…**_

Suddenly, Tails's head dinged in realization. Something was missing… Or better, someone!

"Guys?" He shyly said.

"I'M GONNA SO FREAKING KILL YOU, HEDGEDORK!!!"

"OVER MY DEAD BODY, KNUCKLE-BRAIN!!!"

"Ehi, guys?" He tried again.

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, DUMBHOG!!"

"YOU DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE, ENCHILADNA!!!"

"GUUUUUUUYYYYYYYSSS!!!" He finally yelled.

"WHAT!!!?" They responded in unison.

"Where is Amy?"

"………"

"….. Who?"

* * *

In the dark of an unspecified location… A young pink hedgehog was slowly waking up from Dreamland.

"Where… Am… I?" She asked to nobody in particular… Only to find out that she was tied up to something.

She suddenly remembered what occurred in the afternoon… And she wasn't pleased by that.

"Grrr… That jerk of Mephiles… When I'll get my hands on him…"

"I would LOVE to see that… My rose." Went a second voice.

She stared at the direction of the sound… And she noticed the all so familiar green cat / snake like eyes…

The Dark one… Was in the dark.

And now… She was truly scared.

* * *

**A/N: Continues on "Amy, Mephiles and Shadow".**


End file.
